JULY 5, 1947 — After proving himself a force to be reckoned with in the Negro Leagues, Larry Doby made his Major League Baseball debut just 11 weeks after Jackie Robinson, becoming the first African-American player to play in the American League. Although his debut performance was lackluster, being called in to pinch-hit, and striking out, in the seventh inning of a contest between Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox, Doby's color-barrier-breaking debut is firmly cemented as one of the most important moments in MLB history.